


Isaiah 9.2

by SaneCharlie



Category: Sentinels of the Multiverse (Card Game)
Genre: Blood, Gen, Vampires, Violence, if you think Fanatic talks a little oddly you are absolutely correct
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaneCharlie/pseuds/SaneCharlie
Summary: While travelling the world, Fanatic hears word of monsters, and goes to investigate. But it might be a little more than she can handle...





	

The hunter called Fulepet lurked in the graveyard. Hallowed ground was very important to him, these days, and around here this was the best he could find. People tried hard to take care of the dead. Besides which, he was waiting for someone. Uncomfortable, he adjusted his hat.

A shadow covered the sun, and there was the heavy sound of giant wings opening, bringing their owner in for a gentle landing. Fulepet turned to face her – at the sight, he fell to kneel on the dirt.

She walked over to him. “Rise,” she intoned, “and be not afraid. I am here to help you.”

Reluctantly, he stood, and saw the angel properly for the first time. She was tall, incredibly muscular, and heavily armoured. The crosses on her pauldrons marked her as devout, and the broken blade in her hand showed she was a warrior, if the might of her body weren’t sufficient.

“I…I never thought you–“

“You spoke to your man at the church. Who did you think he would inform?”

“I…I…” He desperately tried to gather his thoughts. “I am so honoured that you would come to help me.”

“It is my duty. Now please, tell me about the situation. What problem am I here to resolve?”

Fulepet nodded. He’d imagined giving a speech along these times, even tried once or twice, but it hadn’t gone that well. This time, though…well, if it didn’t go well, he didn’t have a lot of options. So he _would_ get it right.

“We have a problem around here. People disappear – most often travellers, but sometimes locals. Occasionally it’s just that they get lost in the mountains, or they fall off a cliff and aren’t ever found. More often, it’s because of the vampires.”

He waited for her to laugh or scoff, but she didn’t. A good start. He supposed being an angel and a superhero might make her a little less sceptical than average.

“Hidden in the mountains, in a place few people know, is the Cathedral of Blood. It is home to a small family of vampires, maybe the only ones left in the world. They come out only to feed, taking people back to their home to bleed them dry. People have tried to resist them, but,” he cleared his throat, “they’ve never succeeded. The monsters are too strong.”

“And you need my help to destroy them?” asked the angel. “I would be glad to help.”

“It’s more than that. For a little while, things had been quiet. People almost began to hope that the monsters were gone, perhaps taking their pestilence elsewhere. But then…” he sighed. “The latest disappearances – there were five of them. All in the same night, and all children under the age of ten.”

The angel frowned, and nodded. “This does seem serious.”

“It may be even worse than you are thinking. Tonight is the New Moon, a strong night for dark magic. I know that at least one among the vampires is a blood-mage, and I fear that these children are to be used, not as mere food, but as a sacrifice for some awful ritual.”

“And there’s no telling what they might be trying to do with it. I see. You have done the right thing. Now, we have no more time to waste. Lead me to these monsters, and we shall destroy them.”

* * *

 

The way there was punishingly difficult – winding paths through rocky terrain made every minute painful, and it was such a distance that it took hours. Worse, though Fanatic took it in stride, was the fact that Fulepet had advised her against flying, saying that the monsters’ spies might spot them. “Not every monster burns in the sun,” was all he would say on the matter.

Occasionally he broke the silence and monotony by speaking.

“I’m still amazed that someone of your prominence was able to come here to help us.”

“In truth,” she admitted, “I was already close by, I have been travelling the world. I only stopped in for confession – I had no idea the Church was such a reliable method of communication.”

The hunter glanced at her, but the angelic hero did not seem to be joking. He shrugged.

“Nor me, really. Just figured, situation like this, who else do you run to? Most people are just too scared to do anything.”

Fanatic nodded, all perfect solemnity. “I have often found this the case.”

“So what do you do about it?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

He scowled, though he was not so daring as to actually aim it in her direction. “How do you deal with people getting in your way like that?  Refusing to do anything useful? Protecting the very things that are killing them?”

“I simply destroy the problem. I think I understand your meaning, Fulepet, and I do sympathise. To a point. But never forget that you are there to protect the weak and punish those who prey on them. If you begin to hate or to hurt the weak for not being strong, you have strayed from the path of righteousness.”

The man frowned, but he couldn’t find a response to that. They hiked on in silence.

* * *

 

The sun was low over the mountains by the time they reached the plateau, and Fanatic got her first glimpse of the Cathedral. It was an imposing structure – black stone and red glass, built into a classically gothic cathedral which, apart from its morbid colour scheme, would not be out of place in the middle of Paris. It seemed to spread its power across the whole area, as though this dark and twisted building was draining the light and life from all around it.

Fanatic gripped the hilt of her sword, not fearless but resolute. She turned to Fulepet beside her.

“You have done a great deal by bringing me this far. I do not know if you have faced these creatures in combat before, but if you wish to turn back rather than face them in their own den, I will not think worse of you for that.”

He shook his head. “Never. These things…they have to be killed. I’m not backing down now.”

There was the faintest impression of a smile at the edges of her mouth. “Very well. Then we attack.”

She strode boldly towards the main entrance. The archway was wide open, leading her through into the building’s throat.

The interior was dark, with the red light from the stained glass windows throwing strange and disturbing shadows all around the room. Fanatic narrowed her eyes behind her visor, trying to pick out details in the gloom.

“Careful,” said Fulepet, a few steps behind her. “They’ll likely have a-“

His warning was cut short as a hand clamped over his mouth. Fanatic spun and saw her first vampire – she looked like she might perhaps have been middle-aged, once, but it was impossible to say when that had been. The large fangs showing in her open mouth proved her nature beyond all doubt, and she snarled and hissed like a startled cat. She dragged the hunter back by his head, while he yelped through her hand.

Fanatic snarled at the monster, “Release him and your death will be quick.” It just twisted her mouth into a parody of a smile, saying nothing. The hero shook her head a little. “Do not think to take a hostage against me. My duty is to protect and avenge your victims, and Fulepet has taken the same upon himself. Persist like this, and you will burn with the fires of damnation!”

Her shout seemed to knock the creature off-balance – she stumbled back, and that was all the opening Fanatic needed. She lunged forwards, fist glowing with holy light, and her fist struck the vampire’s face, hurling it back and freeing Fulepet. He gasped for breath and pulled his stake up, guarding himself as he turned to face the monster.

She hissed again, glaring at her two foes. She must not have liked the odds, because she shrieked high and harsh, a call for help. Fanatic brought her sword up and Fulepet tried to watch every entrance, and they tried to guard themselves from reinforcements. A moment passed. Nothing appeared, and Fanatic advanced again towards her foe. The vampire looked nervous, trying to back further away.

There was the thunderous sound of wings, and suddenly Fanatic was moving – dragged backwards at high speed out of the cathedral. She struggled free, spun round, already knowing who she’d see. She saw dark wings, a sword that was the evil twin of her own, a scarred body and a sadistic smile.

“Hello again, my child.”

She bared her teeth. “Apostate.”

* * *

 

Inside the cathedral, Fulepet was fighting for his life. The vampire was toying with him, he was certain. She dodged every attack, avoided his attempts to manoeuvre, and though she didn’t bother attacking very hard or very fast, she was driving him back somewhere.

He made a desperate feint, ducked to the right towards freedom. She made a move, hitting him hard in the face – _finally_ , he thought, with a little satisfaction – and hurling him onto his back. He rolled to his feet, saw the vampire smiling at him from the doorway, looked around to find himself another way out. He was in a great hall, windows open to the mountains and something deeply red flowing through paths in the floor.

There was no way out, not unless he made it all the way across the hall, and if he tried to run he was sure he’d be chased down. He turned back to the monster and pulled a cross from his robes. “Keep back, monster! The power of the Lord will destroy you!”

The woman narrowed her eyes…and laughed. There was no joy in the sound, only a cruel kind of irony. She strode forward and plucked the cross from his hand. “Your Lord cannot touch us here. There is nothing that can protect you, and nobody who can save you.”

With that, she knocked his stake aside, gripped him by the throat, and choked him until he fell unconscious.

* * *

 

Outside, Fanatic was guarding herself against her nemesis, the evil angel Apostate. He laughed as she lunged, then knocked her sword aside and struck a backhanded blow with his gauntleted fist. She shook her head while he hovered above, and glared up at him through the metal of her visor.

“It was you. All along, it wasn’t the vampires, it was you.”

“Now, now,” he tutted. “It was obviously the vampires. We are at their hiding-place, are we not? It’s clear I am simply an innocent bystander.”

“Stolen children, dark magic? This is exactly what I should expect from a demon like you. What are you planning here?”

Apostate laughed. “Oh, this isn’t my plan at all. All I was doing was…repaying a debt, to some old allies. Once I’ve subdued you, I suspect they’ll consider our account settled.”

Helena responded only with a quick swipe of her blade, and Apostate was forced a little back.

“Poor, weak child,” he sneered. “You still don’t understand. You are nothing. Insignificant. If I wished to exert the effort to kill you, you would have been dead for years.” He blocked another stroke of the broken blade, which had come terribly close to his face. “Didn’t you learn anything when I destroyed you before?”

She snarled. “I learned a great deal.” She swung low, and it was blocked. “I learned how strong I am.” Slashed high, and was blocked. “I learned that the power and mercy of God is without limit.” A thrust, a dodge. “I learned that goodness is something you choose, not something you are born with. And I learned that there is NOTHING that will keep me from fighting evil creatures like you!”

She swung a blow at his head, but he dodged out of the way, and slammed his fist full-force into her face. She fluttered and tumbled to the courtyard in front of the cathedral, and hit it hard.

Apostate landed next to her, grinning. “Oh, how wrong you are. Let me show you something that will stop you.”

* * *

 

When she came around, she found herself bound hand and foot. She was still wearing her armour, and said a quick prayer of thanks for that, but she could not see her sword. Looking around, she tried to get some idea of her surroundings.

She was lying next to Fulepet. He was clearly still very dazed and unfocused, and seemed to be staring through rather than at her. She tried to look past him, and thought she saw a couple of small, bound bodies. The children. She was thankful that, whatever else happened, they seemed to be alive for the moment. Their surroundings were new to her – a great hall somewhere within the Cathedral, with stairs leading up to a grey altar, draped with black and red cloth. A huge red stained-glass window would have cast a strange light, had there been anything shining through it. As it was, a host of candles were the only bright thing in the place.

There was an argument taking place. “We served you at great personal risk, and this is what you bring us? A few scrawny whelps, and two dangerous foes? How gracious of you!”

“They are bound and subdued.” That was Apostate, as smug as always. “Surely the lot of you can take care of just two.” He took a few loud footsteps. “She’s waking up.”

“Wonderful, so those ‘bound, subdued’ enemies you’ve brought us are now only restrained! If they even remain that! How marvellous! Have you any more favours you would like to do us? Perhaps you want to call on the Pope and tell him our exact location, as a special favour?”

He chuckled, at that. “Oh, I’m sure His Holiness would be delighted to see me. But I have done enough here. You have what you need for your ritual, and I will be going.”

“You can’t leave while she’s still here! What if–“

“By my count,” Apostate interjected, “my debt has been fully paid. If anything, you now need to repay me for bringing you such potent blood as hers for your ritual. If you want me to stay longer, we will have to continue our discussion of…favours.” The smile he gave was so sinister that even the Matron had to jerk away.

“Oh, leave him.” That was another vampire, who seemed to have more authority, smiling down from her perch near the altar. “She’s alone, after all. And compared to any of us, a mere child. Farewell, Bezaliel. If there is anything you need in the future, you know how to find us.”

The evil angel seemed not at all put out by this rude dismissal. He simply smirked, bowed, and left in silence. A short moment later there was the sound of his wings taking him far away.

The head vampire returned her attention to Helena, and smiled. It was a pleasant little smile – the smile of a child who, on a warm day, has been offered the rare treat of an icecream and is sizing up the options.

“Midnight is nearly upon us. Come Katarina, Erzsi. We have one more for the ritual, now, and I think her blood will be powerful.”

* * *

 

The three vampires – Matron Erzsi, who had been the sentry, Blood-Countess Bathory, who was in command, and Dame Katarina, who seemed to be at the heart of this ritual – dragged their victims to the altar. Fanatic got a good chance to look at the other hostages as she was hauled around. Seeing their unconscious bodies only hardened her resolve to get out of her desperate situation and destroy the monsters. They could not be allowed to kill these children, or to threaten any more people.

They pulled Fanatic onto the altar first, and Katarina cut her own thumb and anointed her with blood. She started chanting, in a low voice and a language the angel had never heard. A faint red light pulsed through her, running down her arm and into the knife she was raising into the air.

“Tell me, monsters,” she said, “what ritual is worth these deaths? What are you doing?”

Matron Erzsi stepped forwards, slapped Fanatic with a rock-hard hand, and stepped back. The Dame smirked. “That is what happens when you interrupt me. This ritual is none of your concern, since you will be dead by the time it takes hold. Know only that your death will mean our strength. The blood of many innocents will be on your hands.”

Her head was spinning, but she wasn’t done. “You…will not…succeed.”

The vampire glared down at her. “You have failed, hero. Your blood will give us great power, and we will spread our poison ever further over the…what is that?”

There was a glow from the East, shining through the window, getting brighter and brighter. The Dame looked confused and angry, as she screeched “Dawn is hours away, what _is_ that?”

“That,” said Fanatic, “is my backup.”

A man burst through the stained-glass window, golden light shining from his armour and from his sword. He saw the vampires below menacing his ally, and swooped down, hurling the glowing blade. Katarina threw up a shield of blood to protect herself – but she was not his target.

The sword sliced neatly through the ties binding Fanatic’s limbs, and she leaped up from the altar and aimed her first blow at the Dame standing over her. The vampire stumbled back, and Fanatic pressed the advantage. She was thrilled to be up and fighting again, and she pushed the advantage, jumping off the altar into the fray. The Matron attacked, dodging one of the angel’s fists before getting the other one in the face. Fanatic almost smiled…but something was wrong. Her attack wasn’t doing as much as it should. The two vampires closed in on her, grinning with fanged mouths.

“That won’t work in here, _hero_ ,” sneered Dame Katarina. “Our blood magic makes our great hall all but impervious to your powers. You can do nothing to truly harm us.”

She felt the altar behind her, and frowned. “Well. We’ll have to do something about that.”

She reached out her hand, and immediately there was her sword. She sliced it through the air, leaving a burning line, and the vampires backed off, but she wasn’t even looking at them. The motion continued until she plunged the sword into the floor at her feet. “Lord,” she said, “cleanse this place. Let thy will be done.”

The sword shone with beautiful, white light, and the vampires shrunk further back. Cracks spread through the stone floor, and everywhere they spread the glow. Then all at once the light seemed to retreat, and faded a little, and the vampires stepped forward hopefully.

Fanatic, sword in hand and glowing brightly, stepped up to meet them. Captain Cosmic and Fulepet, who he’d freed, stood beside her, each with a golden sword in their hand. She smiled.

“Time to finish this.”

The three leaped forward, and the two vampires backed up, practically tripping over their dresses in the effort to escape their enemies’ blades. Fanatic moved for the Dame – then suddenly her way was blocked by the Countess. Up close, she was strangely beautiful, almost shining with undeath. The smile on her lips was interesting, even with the trace of fangs showing through. Before she knew it, the vampire’s claws were tearing through the flesh of her arms, leaving a jagged line across her face. That brought her around enough to push back and bring her sword to bear.

The Countess took a single step backwards, and chuckled. “Oh, child. Bezaliel was right about you. You really don’t understand anything, do you? You cannot destroy us. We are eternal. We existed for centuries before you, and we will exist long after your corpse has crumbled to dust.”

“Your words are meaningless!” She thrust, and her sword shone as it cut shallowly along the Countess’ front. She hissed, and drew back.

“You know very little, but you are at least strong. We could use your strength, little angel. Join us willingly, and we will tell you such things. You will be mightier yet, and at last you will truly understand.”

That made Fanatic smile. “It seems it’s you who lacks knowledge and understanding. I have already had this temptation from Apostate. If he could not succeed, your attempt is laughable.” The blade started glowing again, and the glow spread through her body. “Your evil will be purged from this place, from this world!”

Her light burst outwards, consuming the countess in a screaming pillar of light. The other two monsters added their voices as they were caught up in the burst of divine power, and all three were reduced to piles of ash.

The cathedral was finally quiet, apart from the faint gasping and crying from the former hostages – who were at least free, now that Cosmic had released them from their ropes, and they were huddling together in a confused heap. Fanatic faced her allies, and nodded to them.

“Thank you, both. We’ve done some good here. Fulepet, can you comfort the children?” He nodded, and moved to do so, talking to them in a soft, gentle voice. “Thank you. Captain, I’ve got bad news. Apostate was here, and he’s planning something. My instincts say it’s worse than whatever ritual these monsters were attempting with these children – we need to follow him, as fast as we can.”

Captain Cosmic nodded. “It’s a good thing you called me in, then. We’ll get these kids back to their families, and follow his trail. Hopefully we can catch up with him before he does much damage.” Fanatic nodded, and crossed herself.

“Now,” he continued, “I think we should get out of here in some style!” His eyes glowed, and light came together into a solid form, building and building and becoming enormous, until: “What do you say, everyone? Ready to go for a ride?”

The kids cheered as the golden bus loudly honked its horn.

* * *

 

In the empty cathedral, everything was silent. Quiet settled over the place comfortably, like a warm blanket returning to its place on the bed. Dust motes floated softly in the still air, shining in the candlelight. A slight breeze came through the shattered window, making the dust swirl and the candles flicker, before returning again to stillness.

A rhythmic scraping cut through the air, as a man (or something like a man) dragged himself out from hiding. He could only move slowly, and painfully, but he made his way to the little remains of his beloved Blood-Countess.

“Oh, my Mistress,” he said, almost weeping. “Oh, my poor Mistress. I’m here now.”

A drop of blood fell into the dust. Then another. A trickle. A widening pool.

After a minute or two, there was a gasp, and a low chuckle.

**Author's Note:**

> Really this story only exists because I wanted to have an angel fighting vampires. I mean, why wouldn't you?


End file.
